


Homecoming

by cricket_aria



Category: Magical Diary
Genre: Building Relationship, F/M, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 09:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2845610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cricket_aria/pseuds/cricket_aria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She came back to school a day early, not wanting a hundred eyes watching her the first time she saw her accidental husband again after a summer apart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tuesday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuesday/gifts).



Mary couldn't help but feel a little guilty at how overjoyed she was to see the gates of Iris Academy ahead of her. She still loved her parents and the home where she'd grown up, she really did, but that summer had shown her that the awkwardness she'd felt over Christmas break only got worse over time. She knew that her family and old friends thought she was being standoffish with the curt answers she gave to their questions about her new school, but there was so little that she could tell them. Even if she avoided talking about classes and just described her friends she kept having to cut herself off; how could she give them a complete picture of Virginia without talking about how she was torn between her family and the life she wished she could have, or Ellen without the way she struggled to combine the magical and the scientific or how she chose to leave her mundane life behind?

Not to mention how awkward it was to answer questions about her favorite professor when she couldn't mention that she was married to him.

Ellen's choice wasn't for Mary, she'd never be able to leave her old life behind completely, but she couldn't deny the relief she felt when she hugged her parents goodbye or the happiness to be walking back into a world where she could be completely herself.

The campus was eerily quiet as she walked across it, but she'd expected that. She'd told her parents that she was supposed to be dropped off a day sooner than school actually resumed. She'd had an ally in making sure the deception worked, a short note sent to Professor Potsdam had ensured that the notice her family received about what she'd need to bring with her for the upcoming school year had come with an altered date. Mary understood why Hieronymous thought that Potsdam was too lenient with the students, letting them do just about anything that made them happy unless it broke one of the few rules of the school, but that lenience could certainly come in handy sometimes if one of them needed something. And she needed a day to settle in without other students around watching her every move. Watching to see how Mrs. Grabiner's return to the school would go. For the most part the treatment of her had gotten better by the last day of school, but she'd rather not have every eye on her when she saw him again for the first time.

She'd pictured herself going down to his rooms right away, surprising him with a smile and a hello, but once she was actually there she found herself hit by a sudden burst of shyness and turned to take her things to her room first. It wasn't that she wasn't still planning to see him but it would be too embarrassing, too telling, to show up at his door still dragging her bag behind her. Better to settle in a bit first, not look so much like a schoolgirl with a crush.

Sure, that might be what she was, but if there was any chance that her relationship with him could grow into something more solid in the future he had to be able to see that she felt more than just flighty teenaged lust.

She was greeted at the door to her room by an unexpected bear hug, Ellen jumping up and embracing her before she'd gotten more than a step into the room. "Mary, you're back early!" she exclaimed, looking so happy to see her that Mary felt a little guilty that she hadn't even really thought about the fact she'd be seeing her early too. The summer hadn't changed Ellen much, her hair was a little shaggier and she had a slight tan but that was it, but Mary thought she looked better than she had been. The last time Mary had seen her Ellen had clearly still been torn by the choice she'd made though she hadn't said anything about it; she couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes as she'd watched everyone leaving. Her letters over the summer had all sounded as if she were doing fine, but Mary knew that she was good at bottling up her feelings to avoid worrying other people and hadn't known if she could trust them. 

But her happiness seemed like the pure and simple joy of someone seeing a friend again after a long absence, she didn't seem like someone who'd spent the last few months feeling desperately lonely or homesick and Mary was overjoyed for her for that. Ellen deserved her happiness, and Mary didn't know what she'd have done if she'd come back and found out her friend regretted having her family forget about her. Stormed Potsdam's office and demanded that she immediately go restore their memories, for one thing. Commandeer a bus and force the driver to drive like crazy to get Ellen home so she got at least one night with them, maybe? Find some way to make things right for her.

Ellen pulled back after Mary was thoroughly hugged to bits and opened her mouth to say something, but Mary never got to hear what it would be. Her mouth shut again as she looked Mary over, apparently taking in at once the sundress she was wearing in place of the robes she'd start wearing the next day, the tiny traces of makeup on her usually bare face, and the way she'd gotten the short tangle of her hair something close to flat. Her face softened into the gentle smile she had from time to time, that told whomever it was aimed at that she saw right through them and loved them for whatever she saw, and tapped the ends of her fingers together lightly. "Oh, but you're not here to visit with me for an extra day, are you? Here, I'll put your things away for you, why don't you go relax and... see who else you can find here today?"

"Ellen, you're a better friend than anybody ever deserves to have!" Mary said, pulling her into another impulsive hug. "We'll talk a lot tonight, okay? All night long! We'll steal every snack we can find in the kitchens and have our very own slumber party, and tomorrow Virginia will be incredibly jealous to find us in a sugar coma without her."

Ellen laughed softly, pushing her toward the door. "I don't think that would be the best idea. She'd never forgive us unless we save her plenty."

"Well, maybe we could give her a cookie or two." Mary waved at her once more before turning and walking away.

There was no more room for shyness. Not with a friend rooting for her. So she forced her feet to carry her straight to his room, refusing to let them hesitate under her or to let her hand shy away from knocking on his door. For a moment it seemed there would be no answer, then the door flew open with a grumbled (and a year ago would she have ever have recognized the tone in his voice as something as mild as a grumble instead of confusing it for threatening?) "Petunia, I would thank you to leave me be for my last night of--" but the words were cut off as soon as he saw who was really standing there, a surprised flash of pleasure showing in his eyes before he could hide it and sending a tingle straight through her gut. "Miss Sue," he managed after a moment to collect himself. "You've returned early."

"Don't Miss Sue me, now, Hieronymous," she said with a smile, her tongue no longer tripping over saying his name like it once did. "There's nobody else here, and you've called me Mary all summer long." She had the letters to prove it, neatly stacked at the bottom of her bag where Ellen would probably soon be valiantly resisting the urge to read them. There was no real reason for her to do so, there was nothing in them too private to share, just discussions whatever book he was reading, or interesting goings-on in the magical world, or his thoughts on some issue on her daily life that she'd written to him about, but they were precious to her. Each one was a sign of how he was trying for her sake, trying to be open to her and treat her as an equal, to learn to share his life with her after almost a whole lifetime keeping himself closed off to other people.

"You've returned early, Mary," he corrected himself, with the tiniest hint of a smile, a softening around his eyes. "It's not... I'm glad to see you well."

"I'm glad to see you too. Now, will you let me in?" she asked him, still a little too shy of him to push right by into his room but not at all unsure that he'd let her in. "We have months to catch up on. And it's never too late to start planning for this year's election, I'm not letting anyone else take my place as treasurer and end up making you an accidental polygamist!"

His smile grew a little more obvious, if a little smirkier at the same time, as he stepped aside to let her in. "Indeed, that wouldn't do at all. I suppose we will need to spend some time in the coming weeks plotting out a foolproof strategy for your victory. Although, given how well they responded to 'Lady Lampshade Head' in spite of my low expectations I may not be the best judge of how to win over this crowd."

"It's okay, Hieronymous," she said, stepping past him into his room, feeling more happy to be doing so than such a small thing really deserved. "I'll be happy just to have you helping."

She'd be happy to have him doing anything at all with her. 

It was so good to see him again.


End file.
